Door-to-door and village-to-village surveys carried out by researchers of the Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana detected a total of 9,291 suicides that were committed by farmers in six districts of Punjab during the period from 2000 to 2018. Situated in the Malwa region of Punjab, which is known for cotton farming and the prevalence of cancer among its population, Sangrur (2,506) witnessed the highest number of...

-TheWire.in Why should the money collected through purpose-specific cesses be funneled into a state's consolidated fund? On July 20, 2022, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)’s report on Kerala’s finances for the fiscal year 2020-21 was tabled in the state assembly. Amongst several other observations, this report has noted how funds being kept outside the ‘Consolidated Fund’ of the state. The context here is the manner in which Kerala treats cess...

-Livemint.com Bundelkhand Expressway: Opposition parties criticized the ruling BJP government of Uttar Pradesh over potholes in the long-stretched road. A portion of the newly inaugurated 296-km-long Bundelkhand expressway has developed deep potholes due to heavy rainfall in Uttar Pradesh, within a week of Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching this long-stretched road. Durgesh Upadhyay, UP Expressway Industrial Authority spokesperson informed that the portion of Bundelkhand expressway has developed one-and-a-half-foot-deep potholes due to incessant rainfall...

-TheWire.in A recent CAG report paints a sobering picture of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board's performance. A recently tabled Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has raised critical questions over the functioning of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board. Let’s start with the most startling revelation. According to the national auditor, the welfare board, which comes under the Delhi government’s labour department, spent a meagre Rs...

-Press statement by the National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE) dated June 2, 2022 We strongly urge the Government of Karnataka to: 1. Revoke the recent revisions to the textbooks, which are regressive in nature, and have been done in an arbitrary manner, without adherence to well-defined curriculum framework and processes. 2. Print and supply the textbooks which have been in use for many years, post the last revision.  3. Focus energies on...